The National Credit Union Administration won an appeals court ruling letting it pursue claims against big banks for allegedly making misleading statements to market mortgage-backed securities.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver today unanimously affirmed a lower-court ruling that the NCUA can rely on an “extender statute” giving it more time to file the lawsuits lenders said were filed too late.

That “serves the statute’s purpose by providing NCUA sufficient time to investigate and file all potential claims once it assumes control of a failed credit union,” the three-judge panel said.